by Publius
Police are one of libertarians’ favorite punching bags. At best libertarians are skeptical of law enforcement, at worst they are outright hostile. This is partially, of course, because law enforcement is the armed wing of the state. They are charged with enforcing laws that libertarians often do not agree with. It is also because libertarians, like most Americans, do not understand policing, or police themselves. Here are five things that citizens should know to better understand the institution of policing and police officers themselves.
Author’s Note: This article will reference Pew’s Behind the Badge Study. Page numbers will be in reference to the PDF that is available here.
The War on Police Exists, but It’s More Rhetorical Than Physical
The concept of a “war on police” is often repeated, both in media and by pro-police groups. To support this idea, many cite the increased number of officers murdered on duty. It is true that there has been a large spike in police murdered on duty. Per the Officer Down Memorial Project, approximately 67 officers were murdered on duty in 2016 (This does not include accidents). This is a significant deviation from the average of the previous ten years which is 54.4.
The picture changes however, when one includes all assaults on police. In the past decade, violence against police overall has dropped. 2005 saw a 11.9% rate of assaults on officers. In 2015, it was 9.9%. The date is incomplete, however. The FBI has yet to release data for 2016. It is possible that the assaults in 2016 mirror the spike in murders.
This data means that there may be no physical “War on Police”, at least not a new one. Generally lower crime rates and improved equipment, have resulted in police officers being safer overall. Despite this, officers do not feel any safer (Page 65). Which begs the question, Why don’t they?
Part of it is due to media influence. These days, police all over the country know about the deaths of other officers almost immediately. This affects the outlooks of individuals on the job, even if they haven’t experienced these events personally. Additionally, police officers believe that high profile events such as the Michael Brown shooting have made their jobs harder and interactions with citizens more tense (Page 4). The amount of genuine anti-police rhetoric has also increased due to high profile shootings. This further contributes to a feeling of unease among police officers.
Police Are More Supportive of Gun Rights than the Public
An odd twist in the outlook of police is their support for gun rights. In contrast to media narrative, officers don’t support most gun control schemes. Seventy-four percent say protecting gun rights is more important than controlling gun ownership. In contrast, only fifty-three percent of the public believes this (Page 85).
When looking at specific measures, police are slightly more likely to favor restrictions against the mentally-ill owning guns. Police favor closing the ‘gun show loophole’ at approximately the same rate as the public. Major rifts between police and the public arise in regards to tracking gun sales and a new ‘assault weapon’ ban (Page 86). These statistics probably should not be surprising given police officers are generally considered to lean conservative.
Racial Differences Exist Both Within and Without Police
Unsurprisingly, officers of different racial groups have different views on pressing issues. One example of this is how officers view high profile shootings. White and hispanic officers overwhelmingly see them as isolated incidents. In contrast, a majority of black officers see them as signs of a broader problem. A majority of the public believes that these incidents are a sign of a broader problem (Page 75).
Race also affects how officers view protests over policing issues. White and Hispanic officers are more likely to see them as stemming from anti-police sentiment. Black officers are more likely to see them as genuine attempts to hold officers accountable.
When asked if police were protectors, enforcers, or both, there were racial differences. Speaking generally, officers were more likely than the public to see themselves as either both or primarily a protector. Officers were far more similar to each other than members of the public in their racial group. Citizens, particularly black and hispanic citizens, were more likely to see officers as primarily enforcers.
Use of Force is Relatively Rare, but Bias Exists
It is a common stereotype that police use force very often in their duties. When examining the facts however, this is not true. Both the use of force, and threats of force are quite rare. Out of all police contacts, only 1.4% result in any force or threat. Additionally, the more severe the force, the rarer it is. Soft hands and verbal threats make up the majority of use of force cases.
In regards to racial bias in use of force, like most subjects in policing, the data is mixed. There is, without a doubt, a racial disparity in the use of force. This is however, at least partially, due to disparities in who commits crime. To some, this accounts for all of the disparity in use of force. The reality is a bit more complicated.
According to a Harvard study, there was unaccountable disparity in low level force (such as soft hands) between races. This means that there is a strong possibility of racial bias. The higher the force however, the lower the disparity. The study even alleges that white suspects are disproportionately shot. When looking at this data we see that the issues of police bias in force is often more complicated than presented by either side of the issue.
The Public Has Respect For and Are Confident in the Police, but Lack Understanding
One topic that is brought up often is that the public has supposedly turned against police. This is, broadly speaking, not true. According to Gallup, a whopping seventy-six percent of people have “a great deal of respect” for their local police. An additional seventeen percent report “some respect” for police. Respect for police has skyrocketed since 2015. This implies that the massive increase in respect for cops is related to the rise of Black Lives Matter and anti-police rhetoric in general. This trend is not only for whites either. Nonwhites also have shown massive increases in respect for police.
In another Gallup poll, we see that fifty six percent of Americans great confidence in police. An additional twenty-nine percent have “some” confidence. According to this study, there is a difference in confidence among racial groups, with whites having the most confidence. It is worth noting, that police enjoy more confidence than any other institution with the exception of the military. Police enjoy double the confidence of the justice system as a whole and six times that of congress.
Despite this respect and confidence, police believe that the public still does not understand them. Approximately eighty-three percent of the public believe they understand the challenges of policing. In contrast, eighty percent of officers say that the public does not understand.
Bringing it all Together
Looking at these statistics and facts, one must ask what it all means. The answer, like justice, is complicated. In general, things are better than the media is portraying. The trend is that policing is becoming safer. Force is used much less often than most believe. People generally due respect and have confidence in their police.
With this in mind, we still have issues. Bias, while not everywhere, still exists in policing. Harmful practices such as civil asset forfeiture and the “war on drugs” still continue. While the vast majority of cops are good people, some bad ones still escape punishment.
Police are not perfect. They never will be; they’re human just like everyone else. In our search to improve our justice system, we cannot fail to hold those who betray their duty to account. We cannot stop working to make our system better anywhere we can. Most importantly however, we cannot forget the men and women in blue who are out there everyday trying to make it all work.